Well, my extra helmet and kid's harness finally came in so I promised Angelica I would take her climbing. The hardest thing to teach her was to trust the belay set-up to catch her if she fell and to let go of the rocks so I could ease her down. After the first go, she took to it like a rock star! She got comfortable with going up about 30 feet...better than me the first time!
While Japan has some beautiful country, we don't see alot of wildlife. You know its out there as there are tons of predatory birds flying above, but you never see any rodents. Along the hiking trails, you'll see various scat, but almost never any animals. Last week, Mike and I saw a serow scurry up a rock across the ravine we were standing on. A serow is an animal kind of in between an antelope and a mountain goat. Today, we were lucky enough to see three of them running around together. I was quite surprised how close they let us get.
Darren and I made an overnight trip to Mount Iwate, or Iwate-san. At 2038 meters, Iwate-san is the highest mountain in the Tohoku region of Japan.
The geology and vegetation on Mount Iwate is quite different than the other mountains I've visited in Northern Japan. Although a volcano like the rest of them, it was more rugged and had less low-level vegetation than the Hakkoda mountains. The "alpine" feel was very refreshing when compared to the "bush-whacking" necessary to navigate the Hakkoda mountains. On the other hand, like the typical Japanese volcano, the elevation climb was almost constant and the Japanese only know how to build trails one way...straight to the top.
The Japanese weather doesn't often permit good views from high altitudes. But, during a brief moment, the clouds cleared allowing a breath-taking view from near the summit. The pic just doesn't do it justice. That little lake sits at about 5000 feet and I'm hoping to spend some more time there next summer. I'm hoping its a good summer swimming hole.
Me and Darren made the summit and, as usual for Japan, the summit was in the clouds.
While looking for a place to camp, we happed upon a cabin abnormally large for a Japanese mountain emergency cabin. There were plenty of people hustling around, so we asked if this was the type of cabin where one may buy a beer. They said that we could not buy a beer. They went on to explain that they were the Iwate Prefecture Hiking Club and that they were celebrating the last hike of the season. They insisted that we stay and celebrate with them.
The food was delicious. We ate a vegetable and pork soup along with kimchi, sashimi, bbq chicken chunks, and, of course, plenty of Asahi, Sake, and Soju....
Kampai! 
